Conducted by the Manufacturing Performance Institute (MPI) on behalf of Plex Systems Inc., the study assessed implementations of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, satisfaction with those implementations and the extent to which ERP systems have benefitted organizations.

The survey targeted more than 200 manufacturing leaders in North America from food processing, aerospace, defense, electronics and general manufacturing industries. The study analyzed implementations based on the type of system in place: software-as-a-service (SaaS)/cloud ERP systems vs. traditional ERP systems, where hardware and software reside on the facility premises. See the infographic highlighting the results of the study.

Overall, 73 percent of respondents agree that SaaS/cloud solutions are better or significantly better than traditional on-premise ERP platforms. Also, 75 percent of SaaS/cloud users express increased customer satisfaction. The ease of use, security and access to mission-critical real-time data, anywhere at any time, are some of the reasons cited for the satisfaction.

“2012 saw the widespread acceptance of cloud computing, including the validation of the model by some of the largest software companies in the world,” said Plex Systems CEO Jason Blessing. “The survey takes a deeper look into the manufacturing sector’s acceptance of and perspective on the use of cloud ERP. It is clear that cloud ERP is the No. 1 choice for manufacturers to maximize efficiencies with minimum upfront costs and increased return on investment.”

Plex Systems Inc. is the developer of Plex Online, a Cloud ERP solution for the manufacturing enterprise. Plex Online offers industry-leading features for virtually every department within a manufacturer, including Manufacturing Execution System (MES) and Quality Management System (QMS) for the shop floor, Supply Chain Management (SCM) for procurement, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) for finance and management, and Business Intelligence (BI) for executive management. Plex Online’s comprehensive functional coverage delivers a “shop-floor to top-floor” view of a manufacturer’s operations, enabling management to run its business at maximum efficiency. Founded in 1995, Plex Systems is headquartered in Troy, Mich., with customers around the globe.